The Autumn's Zephyr

By Zbond

A.N. Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. It has been a very long time since I have last posted. However I had an idea around a Harry/Cho pairing and decided to add one more story to this pairing which has been lacking. Slight alternate universe.

Chapter 1: The Quidditch World Cup

"Did he eat it?" A dark haired boy looked up as he did his best to regain his bearings in tumbling out his best friend's fireplace via floo travel.

Focusing his eyes, Harry Potter grinned as he looked up at a beaming Fred Weasley, he and his twin brother George, or as they were known at times, Gred and Forge, were THE notorious pranksters of Hogwarts. They were also not too shabby with a beater's bat either.

"Yeah" He said as the older boy pulled him up. "What are they?"

"Ton Tongue Toffee, George and I came up with them not long ago, we've been dying all summer to find someone to test it on." Harry laughed, the memory of his cousin, Dudley Dursley crying hysterically with a four foot long tongue whilst his horse faced aunt doing her best to catch and hold the swollen engorged appendage with his walrus sized uncle impotently swinging his arms was now his favorite memory.

He had politely introduced himself when he saw two older red haired young men, immediately recognizing them as Bill and Charlie Weasley. Bill was a curse breaker at Gringotts', the wizard bank run by a race known as goblins. Sitting next to him was Charlie, Harry guessed due to the visible burn scar on of man's arms.

It had been a few difficult weeks as Harry reflected on the horrid time he was stuck at Private Drive, in between being the Dursley's house servant and being bombarded with nightmares surrounding Wormtail, formerly known as Peter Pettigrew, who had been friends with his parents and betrayed them to the being known as Lord Voldemort. Harry bit his lip in thought, he was not sure if his dreams were visions or were events that were happening in real time, all were concerning prospects to him.

"What if something happens this year?" Harry was shaken from his thinking as he looked up as he distinctively heard someone calling his name and saw a boy near his age with red hair, like the rest of his family and freckles beaming at him along with a girl with bushy brown hair and large front teeth. He gave a wave at his two friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger who rushed over to him with happiness and relief shining in their eyes. Whilst a younger long red haired girl, Ginny Weasley blushed when he waved at her.

He was alright.

Sitting in her room in her home, a girl with dark shiny hair tied in a ponytail sat in her desk, quill in hand, mind racing as she scanned the piece of parchment laying on the mahogany wooden surface.

Cho Chang's dark brown eyes squinted in frustration as she had failed to write anything more than two words, she was a Ravenclaw for Merlin's sake, writing a letter to a person should not be the titanic struggle it appeared to be shaping up. The intended recipient of said letter was one Harry Potter, as stated by the two pititful words she had managed to write, Hello Harry.

Glancing at the Tutshill Tornadoes poster beside her, she smiled, recalling the match between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor.

She still remembered her house team captain, Roger Davies pulling his hair out in trying to come up with an alternate strategy as Harry Potter was undeniably, a gifted seeker, having made the team in his first year, much to the chagrin of all Quidditch players in every house save Gryffindor of course. Of course, it was the gossip of the entire castle that Harry Potter, leading up to the match, was going to be flying on the newest Firebolt, a broom used by professional players whilst she stuck with her Comet Two Sixty. She had done her best of course under those circumstances but lost as Harry had ended catching the snitch, even with disruptions coming from the Slytherin team as they attempted to catch them off guard by masquerading as Dementors.

Cho still remembered Harry quickly whipping his wand out and shot a burst of white silver light, which caused the figures to tumble to the ground on impact. Cho had to admit, it was an outstanding display of ability and skill, as she rejoined her team following their loss, her eyes caught his and just like at the start of the match, he had blushed when she smiled towards him, curious.

Not to toot her own horn or to sound vain but Cho was very aware of how she was viewed by the male contingent of her school, not that she cared a great deal about it, like her friend and fellow Ravenclaw, Marietta Edgecombe. Whilst she enjoyed the company of her friend, Cho found her perchance in gossip to be fatiguing, especially her negative gossip.

From the few interactions she has had with Harry, Harry seemed like the opposite of the moniker that was slapped on him by some of the students and staff at Hogwarts of being an attention-seeking hound.

"Who are you, Harry Potter." She wondered, staring at the name written on the parchment.

A knocking sound at her door brought Cho back to the present from her thoughts of Harry Potter as she quickly flipped the parchment over and cleared her throat.

"Come in."

Her lips widened into a warm smile as she saw a handsome young man in his twenties with pale skin, raven wavy dark hair that was parted at the side and mischievous dark hazel eyes poking his head into her room.

"Eugene!" Cho bolted from her chair, into the arms of her much taller older brother, who caught her with ease.

"Ooof. My little sister's getting so big." Eugene Chang stated softly, gently petting her head.

"Prat…" Cho rolled her eyes at the familiar sappy antics of her older brother.

"Oh, what's this? Woah, when did this happen?" Cho looked up and scowled as Eugene poked her bicep. He barely reacted when she slugged him on the shoulder, still smiling at her.

"Now I remember why I don't miss him." Cho huffed as she released him.

"When did you get back?" She asked as Eugene lazily sprawled himself on her bed as if he were an overgrown cat.

"A couple of hours ago, there was a mix up with my Portkey, I won't bore you with the details but the paperwork involved was immense."

Before Cho could offer her condolences, a loud gasp made it self known to the two participants before a dark missile jumped on Cho's bed and tackled their tall lanky sibling.

Cho bit her response to tell the intruder off about jumping on her bed, knowing that it would be immediately disregarded. Instead she settled on crossing her arms and glaring.

"Gē ge." Eight year old Li Chang exclaimed after she had expertly climbed around oldest sibling until she had her arms wrapped around his neck from behind.

Li Chang had a round face, button nose and large hazel eyes and she unlike her big sister had her hair styled in a cute bob cut despite her valiant effort against their mum in resisting, not wanting to part with her long locks.

"My dearest Mèi mei." Eugene rubbed his side of his face against Li's, causing the younger girl to squeal. Cho only smiled at the scene before her, knowing that not all families were as tight knitted as hers.

"Pretty big year coming up with your O.W.L.S." Eugene said, ignoring Li who was now poking his cheek, apparently finding this highly entertaining.

"Yeah."

O.W.L.S or Ordinary Wizarding Levels were the examinations that all fifth year students were expected to take. Being in Ravenclaw, school work has rarely been a concern but the thought of exams, important ones at that, did cause her stomach to do some tiny flips.

"I'm here if you ever want to talk about them." Cho nodded gratefully at her brother's offer. Her brother had soared past the O.W.L.S and N.E.W.T.S, the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests with relative ease, his notes had been a lifesaver at times. Cho had a bad feeling in her gut as she saw brother's smile turn predatory

"Or any other things like… if my sweet little sister is seeing anyone right now?"

"Eugene Chang!"

Harry looked on with amazement as he walked amongst the Quidditch World Cup camp, never had he seen so many wizards and witches from presumably all over the world congregate in one place at one time. The scene that greeted him as he again tumbled through the old boot of a portkey put Diagon Alley to shame.

Such was his excitement that even the unintentional dig from Amos Diggory, to the embarrassment of his son Cedric, was all but left at the back of his head as he walked along with Ron and Hermione through the camp, behind Ron's father, Mr. Weasley. Cedric and his father separated from them soon after as they were in another part of the field.

Harry watched with some degree of amusement as he watched Mr Weasley converse with the muggle in charge of their area. Mr. Weasley was soon given a map and pointed to a spot.

"Harry, can I get your help with this?" Harry stepped forward, taking the bundle of muggle currency. He counted the bills meticulously and gave the correct amount to the muggle who seemed to be looking at them with curiosity.

"You're not from around here?"

"You can say that." Harry responded with a polite smile, ignoring Ron's snort and Hermione and Ginny's smirks.

The muggle went on about how he had been experiencing a very strange days, seeing funnily dressed people and being paid with large gold coins.

It was then a wizard appeared behind him and with a flick of his wand, the muggle's eyes were glazed over. Harry was given the change back and they were ushered away. Harry could hear the Obliviator conversing with Mr. Weasley. about having to repeatedly obliviate the same muggle a few times that day and how a certain Ludo Bagman had doing his best to break the statue of secrecy by talking about Bludgers and Quaffles.

It was definitely an experience Harry had never been through, camping, as his relatives would leave him under the supervision of his neighbor Mrs. Figg instead of entertaining the thought of even taking him with them.

Shoving the ugly, bitter feeling aside, Harry got started working on helping with setting up the tents. Again, Harry felt his breath caught in his throat as he entered the assembled tent and walked into a large, spacious and furnished room that appeared to have two adjoining rooms with bunk beds secured to the wall. There was also a table with chairs present.

"I love magic." Harry remarked, taking the sight in.

Meanwhile...

Cho could not help but gaze in wonder as she stepped into the camp of the Quidditch World Cup, taking in the sounds and sights. Holding Li's smaller hand in hers as they followed their older brother. Their parents had opted out in attending, as they held no interest in Quidditch, therefore it was the onus on her older brother in looking after them.

Cho chuckled at an earlier conversation that happened in the morning around their mother reprimanding her older brother around not taking what she was saying seriously.

She looked down and saw Li shaking her head, hair swinging slightly. Cho gently rubbed her little sister's back. It had been her first trip via Portkey.

Cho smiled as she did a quick look over her younger sister's attire, a white t-shirt, light blue skirt and a brown sun hat and sandals. Meanwhile, she decided to wear dark jeans, a dark blue blouse and a team Ireland hairclip. She waved as her brother calmly walked over to them, map in hand with their tent securely packed behind his back. He was clad in khaki pants, a navy polo and dark windbreaker.

Upon arriving at their campsite, after weaving through the seemingly bustling crowd, Eugene and Cho started the work of setting their tent together while Li watched as she ate the ice cream cone that Eugene had fished out to her from one of their enchanted baskets, thankfully it seemed to have restored the little girl's energy as she rushed over to help, or rather her version of helping, by asking tons of questions that only a young child her age could.

Cho laughed as her younger sister pestered their brother around how the tents could be so spacious if they needed to be set up from individual parts.

"Perfect, I'll handle the firewood, Cho can you and Li get us some water please." Eugene asked, handing his two sisters each a bucket, smiling as Li placed the bucket over her head.

"Li." Cho said sternly as she pulled the bucket off and placed it back into the hands of her pouting sister. Cho watched as Eugene pull his wand out and flicked it once.

"Weightless charm." He explained and showed them where the location of the tap was on the campsite map.

"Alright, c'mon you." Cho turned around and pulled her still pouting sister with her. Cho could not help but smile as her sister's infectious excitement made itself known as they passed by wizards and witches their age who spoke in different languages, others were getting out of their tents or making breakfast.

Cho smiled to herself as she caught or two wizards and witches starting a fire the muggle way by matches and awing when it worked. Cho had to strengthen her grip around her sister's hand when the small girl saw a couple of young witches riding on toy brooms.

As they neared the tap, Li pulled free of her older sister's hand, excited that they arrived and that she was going to be next in queue as luckily there was only one group of people ahead of them and that they had finished drawing water. "Li, watch ou-"

Harry Potter was deep in thought, wondering what his godfather, wrongly convicted murderer Sirius Black was doing, conversation with his father's best friend had been sporadic and few in between, understandable given that he was a wanted man for breaking out from the wizarding prison, Azkaban.

Nevertheless, Harry wished more than anything that Sirius could be here too. Ron and Hermione had gathered their water already and were making their way back to their tent as he told them that he was going to be behind them. He was brought back to the present when he felt something hit his legs which sent him sprawling the ground, the person who walked into him also lost momentum and landed on his chest with a surprised squeak.

Following a groan of pain, Harry opened his eyes and noticed the additional weight on his chest, seeing that it was small, Harry quickly came to his senses that he had collided with a small child.

"Owieee…" The child slowly looked up and Harry started to panic as the little girl's large dark brown eyes started to well up with tears.

"I'm really sorr-" His apology was cut short as the little girl started to bawl.

At that moment, Harry Potter desperately wanted the world to swallow him up as he got up with the little girl still crying in his arms.

"Li, what did I tell you about running off by yourself?"

Harry stilled at the voice as he heard the familiar light Scottish accent.

"This is no time to be a gentlemen, knock her off her broom if you have to!"

Slowly looking up, he felt a massive lump form in his throat as he was staring into the amused eyes of Cho Chang.

"Jiě jie!" The moment was broken as the small girl leapt into the embrace of her older sister.

"Sorry for my little sister, Harry, Li doesn't have much self-awareness when she gets excited." Cho said, gently petting the smaller girl on the back.

"Hi Cho…err...Li, was it, I'm sorry that I bumped into you." Harry said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

Cho's sister, who had her head buried in her sister's leg turned around, wiping the tears from her face, the little girl looked up to Cho's expectant stare before turning her attention back to Harry.

"I'm sorry too…" Li mumbled, while looking at the ground, embarrassed.

"So Harry…are you excited about the match?" Cho asked, seeing that Harry seemed to be debating on what to say, her decision was rewarded as she saw his eyes brighten with excitement.

Li seemed to be shock once her eyes flickered at the forehead of the boy her sister was speaking to but quietly kept it to herself. So engrossed were they around the match between Ireland and Bulgaria that Harry found himself walking with the Chang sisters back to their tent.

Of course, with both Harry and Cho being seekers, the conversation of Viktor Krum, the young Bulgarian seeker was a topic that was spoken about with the utmost enthusiasm. While Harry did not know much about Krum's exploits and the performances that he had displayed prior to the final, Cho was more than happy to fill in for him.

Neither of them saw the looks that Li Chang shot them every now and then as the eight-year-old girl skipped alongside them.

"Well it looks like this is us." Cho announced as she motioned at an inconspicuous tent, her brother already having set up their fire and in the process of preparing their food. H

Harry watched as the older boy, who seemed to be around Charlie and Bill Weasley's age look up and broke into a gentle smile as he saw them. He had thick, wavy dark hair that parted at the side with dark eyes.

"Cho, Li, You're back. Everything went okay? I was about to come find you."

Harry felt somehow that despite the friendly and calm attitude of Cho's brother, he could not help but note the way the wizard carried himself in his stance. It screamed alertness.

"Gē ge! We ran into jiě jie's friend, Harry. He offered to carry my water, isn't that nice." Li exclaimed while rushing to her brother. Harry felt his face burn with embarrassment as he set the bucket of water down, giving who he assumed to be Cho and Li's brother a polite smile but turned out to be more of a forced grimace due to his nervousness.

Taking several strides forward, the older boy stepped forward.

"That is very nice. Thank you for escorting my sisters, Harry Potter. I'm Eugene Chang." He smiled, sticking out his hand, which Harry shook. Harry could not help but notice that Eugene did not stare at the lightning shaped scar on his forehead, like the majority of people in the Wizarding world did, which he was grateful for.

"Nice to meet you too, I'm Harry." He blurted out, stealing a glance at Cho who seemed to be highly amused over the situation.

"Would you like a Butterbeer, Harry?" Harry snapped his attention back to the older boy and nodded.

"Thank you." He said as Cho's brother handed him the butterscotch flavoured beverage. Cho led him to a pair of folded chairs as they sat down.

Though Harry found himself at times found himself staring at the Ravenclaw witch, noting the way she would tuck her hair behind her ear, he snapped himself to answer her questions and engage in a chat about his summer, keeping the relationship he had with the Dursleys, or lack there of, vague. Harry suddenly felt self-conscious around teh hand me downs that he was wearing in contrast to what the Changs were wearing.

Harry was drawn from his thoughts, turning his head, he had to stifle a smile as he saw Cho's little sister attempting to take a bite out from the massive burger in her hand.

It was not long that Harry realized that he had been absent for a while and no doubt, Ron, Hermione, and the entire Weasley clan would be worried about where he was.

"Is something wrong?" Cho asked, concern in her voice.

"Err...it's been really nice to be able to catch up with you Cho, I'd like to stay longer with your family, I really do but my guardian for this trip might be a bit worried around how long I have been away." Harry said sheepishly.

To his relief, Cho only smiled with understanding. "Where is your tent at Harry?"

"I think at the other end of the camp." Harry responded, realizing how silly he sounded.

"Do you need some help getting back?" Eugene asked.

"I-" Harry hesitated.

"It's settled then. I wanted to have a stroll anyways." Eugene said as he wiped his hands and put on his windbreaker.

"Umm…" Harry turned towards Cho who merely looked at him as they stood up.

"See you at the match?" Harry cursed himself as soon as the words left his mouth.

He stiffened as he felt soft and gentle arms wrapped themselves around him. In reality the hug lasted seconds but for Harry, it felt longer than that. Unlike Mrs. Weasley and Hermione, Cho did not deign it her mission to squeeze the life out of him with her hugs.

"It's a date." Cho winked and inwardly laugh as she saw Harry's cheeks reddening slightly.

Harry had a difficult time wiping the smile on his face as he did his best to catch up with Eugene's strides, the older boy being more than a head taller than him made that a task in itself.

"You're heading into your fourth year, yes Harry?"

"Yeah."

"How have you been finding your classes at Hogwarts? Binns still manning the History post?"

"Unfortunately."

"That's a shame, there's so much more around the subject of our history and we're stuck with enduring endless lectures around goblin wizard conflict."

Harry grinned at this, it was nice to know that students that have graduated before him felt the same way.

"By the way, which electives are you taking? Cho and I both chose Ancient Runes and Arithmancy." Eugene asked with curiosity as they walked past some witches that were appeared to be giggling amongst themselves, Harry saw one of them looking at him and Eugene and whispered something unintelligible which caused the others to peer at them and giggle more amongst themselves.

"Care of Magical Creatures and Divination." As soon as he mentioned the latter subject, Harry regretted it. It was a class that was consisted of writing nonsense as homework and looking at tealeaves whilst being guided by a more than questionable instructor. He had been having thoughts over summer around whether it would be worth stomaching another year of the same.

"Though I was wondering if I can still change my electives even after a year?"

Fortunately, Eugene was very understanding of his situation and did not pry around why he had asked but instead encouraged him to write to his head of house to make it known that he wanted to change subjects. Harry was grateful around Eugene sharing the names of some books that he could buy if he needed more support in catching up with the first year curriculum of each of the electives, promising to write him a more comprehensive list after the World Cup.

"Harry!" Harry smiled as he saw Ron and Hermione rushing up to them, worry in their eyes.

"Where've you been, Harry, we turned around and you were gone." Harry had to cringe a bit a the tone and way Hermione asked that question, sure trouble did have a habit in following him but he was not a defenseless.

"Sorry, ran into Cho and her sister, we caught up for a bit and her brother offered to walk me back." Harry shrugged as Ron and Hermione turned to look at the taller man standing next to their best friend.

"Eugene. Pleasure" The Eurasian wizard smiled. Hermione and Ron introduced themselves, he stopped when it was Ron's turn. "Weasley, any chance that Charlie-"

"EUGENE!" Everyone jumped save the person whose name was called as they turned to the owner of the voice standing at the entrance of the tent.

"It's been a while, Charlie."

The shorter and stockier Weasley grinned as he crushed his fellow alumni in a crushing hug. It was somewhat comical sight to witness, given the height difference.

"It's been a while since I last seen you, you vampire looking bastard." Charlie greeted.

"I could say the same with you, you're more uglier than ever. No wonder only dragons could stand your mug." Eugene shot back as they both laughed.

Sensing the confusion, Charlie Weasley turned to his younger brother and friends.

"We were in the same year." He explained.

"Which house were you in?" Harry asked, suddenly curious to know more about Cho's sibling.

"Slytherin." Eugene responded as Harry's eyes widened.

"Oh." Harry replied and Eugene nodded, as sensing what he was thinking about.

"Not what you expected, I imagine?" Harry nodded.

"That's fair enough, I can hardly hold it against you given what Cho has told me with what happened last year, in particular, your match against Ravenclaw."

"The good old days. Remember that time when our Draught of Living Death caught Snape's hair on fire?" Charlie interrupted, not wanting to be bogged down by conversations around house rivalries.

Harry, along with Ron and Hermione to drop their mouths with shock at the revelation, Severus Snape was the residential sallow faced, hook nosed and greasy haired Potions Professor who's loathing of Harry was matched by the reciprocating party. Harry looked at the two older boys with newfound respect.

"Yes, Professor Snape without his hair, Pritchard nearly wet himself right then and there. Detention for the rest of the year with mother nearly screamed my head off at term break." Eugene responded fondly turning to the younger cohort.

"Not that we intentionally set out to do that, of course." He winked. Harry and Ron grinned widely as Hermione had a look of disapproval on her face.

Unfortunately the conversations had to end as Eugene had to return to his own tent.

"It's been wonderful speaking to you today, Harry Potter. All the best for your upcoming school year."

"Likewise, Eugene, it was really nice to meet you." They shook hands again before the older wizard walked off after nodding at Charlie Weasley, weaving effortlessly through the crowds.

Harry's feeling of excitement continued to climb as he, Hermione and the Weasleys left the tent in preparation for the match, walking by the carts laden with various merchandise around the big match which included posters, small figurines and even a Firebolt on displayed by a Quidditch supplies store which had attracted many who were gazing at the broom.

Harry could not help but smile at the sight of the broom, reminded of his godfather once again. He ended up purchasing three pairs of Omnioculars, which allowed one to zoom in and out, replay action, slow down the match and a play by play function. He found his friends huddled around a cart that seemed to be specializing around figurines.

"Your Christmas presents." He announced.

"Oooh, thanks Harry!" Hermione resonded as Ron was a bit more subtle with his thanks. Harry inwardly sighed as Ron always had been a tad touchy around him inheriting a small fortune, had more money than him.

"Just so, neither of you are getting presents for the next ten years." Harry joked which worked in lifting his friend's spirit.

Soon after, they were lead by Mr. Weasley through the woods until they emerged at the other side to find themselves in the shadow of a gigantic stadium. Harry only gazed on with wonder as he reached the top box, situated directly in the middle of the golden goalposts. The box was extended magically and upon arrival, he recognised the current Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge with another wizard. Fudge caught his eye and waved him over, much to the chagrin of Percy Weasley who had bowed so low that his glasses had slipped off from his nose, which resulted in him having to repair them much to his own embarrassment. Harry stopped himself from rolling his eyes as he was introduced to the Bulgarian Minister of Magic who appeared to be a stern man wearing black robes trimmed with gold.

"Ah Amelia. So glad you were able to make it." Harry turned his head and saw a tall, stern looking witch with close-cropped grey hair approaching them.

"Minister" The witch greeted Fudge and his Bulgarian counterpart. "Mr. Potter." Harry was slightly unnerved at the witch's presence.

"Amelia Bones, you're in the same year as my niece, Susan. I believe." Susan Bones, Harry distinctively remembered coming across the shy red haired witch every now and then.

"Yes, err, Susan's very nice." Harry said lamely, to which Amelia nodded.

Harry excused himself and he quickly found the Weasleys, he felt his heart skip a beat as he saw Cho who was trying her best in prying her little sister away from the edge. Cho caught his eyes and smiled back which he nervously returned, her little sister turned her head around and upon seeing him, gave him an small wave. Harry could see Eugene conversing with Charlie at the back, the rest of the Weasleys seemed to be chatting amongst themselves while Mr. Weasley appeared to be shaking hands with wizards and witches that Harry did not recognize.

"Cho, you're here." Harry said and instantly cringed with how his words came out.

"Such astounding deductive abilities you have, Mr. Potter. Five points from Gryffindor." Cho did her best in imitating a certain Professor, which lit Harry's eyes with mirth. Cho had to hold in her giggle in experiencing the rather dorky yet endearing side of Harry Potter.

"Eugene has a contact in the Department of Magical Games and Sports that gave him a killer price." The Ravenclaw explained as Harry nodded, looking over at the taller dark haired wizard who seemed to be focused on the pitch, he was about to ask what it was her brother did for work when the the crowds became silent.

Ludo Bagman, the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports arrived at the top box, sweat running down his boyish face as his eyes gleamed with excitement. He wore his Wimbourne Wasp robes with obvious pride.

"Everyone ready, Minister?"

"Ready when you are, Ludo." Fudge responded comfortably.

Ludo whipped out his wand, directed it at his own throat, and said "Sonorus!" and then spoke over the roar of sound that was now filling the packed stadium; his voice echoed over them, booming into every corner of the stands.

"Ladies and gentlemen . . . welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"

The spectators screamed and clapped. Thousands of flags waved, adding their discordant national anthems to the racket. The huge blackboard opposite them was wiped clear of its last message and now showed Bulgaria: 0 – Ireland: 0.

"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce . . . the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"

The right-hand side of the stands, which was a solid block of scarlet, roared its approval.

"I wonder what they've brought," said Mr. Weasley, leaning forward in his seat.

"Aaah!" He suddenly whipped off his glasses and polished them hurriedly on his robes. "Veela!"

"What are Veel-" Harry's question was answered by roaring excited yelling and whistling as he saw a large group of silver haired women walking onto the field, wearing scarlet outfits. Music played and they started dancing, in perfect synchronization, which further increased the intensity surrounding their reception. Harry was suddenly keenly aware that the the Weasleys were all standing along with everyone else in the top box, angling to get a better look at the inhumanely beautiful women.

"Ron! What are you doing?! Honestly!" Harry saw his best friend frozen in a position that looked as though he were about to dive from a springboard.

Harry could not help but snicker but as he turned his head and saw Cho looking at him, her doe like eyes wide with surprise. Next to her, Eugene Chang was giving him what seemed to be an appraising look. He gave Cho a questioning look and a received a shaking head as the raven haired witch then pointed at the sky.

Harry looked up and grinned as a a great green-and-gold comet came zooming into the stadium. It did one circuit of the stadium, then split into two smaller comets, each hurtling toward the goal posts. A rainbow arced suddenly across the field, connecting the two balls of light. The crowd oooohed and aaaaahed, as though at a fireworks display. Now the rainbow faded and the balls of light reunited and merged; they had formed a great shimmering shamrock, which rose up into the sky and began to soar over the stands. Something like golden rain seemed to be falling from it.

"Waaaah" Li Chang exclaimed and squealed as the shamrock soared over them, and heavy gold coins rained from it, bouncing off their heads and seats.

Squinting up at the shamrock, Harry realized that it was actually comprised of thousands of tiny little bearded men with red vests, each carrying a minute lamp of gold or green.

"Leprechaun gold, they disappear after a while." Eugene said softly.

Before Harry could open his mouth to respond, Ron had stuffed a fistful of gold coins into his hands, "for the Omnioculars! Now you've got to buy me a Christmas present, ha!" Harry did not have the heart to rain down on his friend's parade and only nodded.

The great shamrock dissolved, the leprechauns drifted down onto the field on the opposite side from the veela, and settled themselves cross-legged to watch the match.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome — the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you — Dimitrov! Ivanova! "Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaaaand — Krum!"

"It's Krum!" Li Chang exclaimed, eyes behind her own Omnioculars, bouncing up and down her seat. Harry quickly focused on his own, as did Cho.

Viktor Krum was thin, dark, and sallow-skinned, with a large curved nose and thick black eyebrows. He looked like an overgrown bird of prey. It was hard to believe he was only eighteen.

"And now, please greet — the Irish National Quidditch Team!" bellowed Bagman. "Presenting — Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaand — Lynch!" Seven green blurs swept onto the field and upon slowing down his Omnioculars, Harry was able to read the word Firebolt on each of their brooms along their names embroidered in silver upon their backs.

"And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!" A small and skinny wizard, completely bald but with a mustache to rival Uncle Vernon's, wearing robes of pure gold to match the stadium, strode out onto the field. The referee kicked the crate open – four balls burst into the air, the scarlet Quaffle, the two black Bludgers and for the briefest of moments, Harry saw the winged Golden Snitch. With a sharp blast on his whistle, Mostafa shot into the air after the balls.

"Theeeeeeeey're OFF!" screamed Bagman.

"KRUM GETS THE SNITCH — BUT IRELAND WINS — good lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that!"

In the midst of the jubilant shouting, screaming and cheering, Harry only marvelled on the match he had seen. He did not have any words to describe the spectacle he had just witnessed. The Irish chasers were spectacular, the way they intuitively knew each other positions at seemingly every second of the match. That being said, Krum was definitely something else, Harry did not see much professional Quidditch but he had never seen anyone, him included fly the way Krum did, the Bulgarian seeker made flying look so natural, like breathing air.

He could not wait to return to Hogwarts to try out the Wronski Feint. When it came time for the spectators to leave the stadium, he found himself walking with Cho as her little sister was now safely securely wrapped around their older brother's back, doing her best to stay awake.

As they emerged from the stadium, Eugene turned to give Cho and Harry a look over with a knowing smirk as he gave them some space to say goodbye. The two stood in front of each other, neither being completely sure around what to say.

"Harry—"

"Cho—"

Cho couldn't help but giggle as she caught Harry's embarrassed expression. Deciding to be a bit bolder, Cho gave the raven haired wizard one quick hug before letting go.

"It's been really fun surprise spending time with you today, Harry. See you around?" She said as she slowly backed away, a smile still on her face.

"Yeah, definitely. Oh I mean—yes!" Harry blurted out and internally kicked himself as Cho giggled before walking off to her brother and sleeping sister. Eugene gave Harry a wave as they Changs disappeared into the forest.

Harry could not help but smile widely as he heard Mr. Weasley calling his name. He definitely could not wait to get back to Hogwarts.